What Happened To MY World?
by Miriku-'-'-Yami no Hikari
Summary: [Sequal to 'MY Life, MY Rules'] It's been a year since returning the YuGiOh guys to their own world. Here comes a new summer...and new adventures! [YuugixOC, YamixOC, MalikxOC, RyouxOC, BakuraxOC, AnzuxOC, KaibaxOC, OtogixOC]
1. Where ARE We?

**I'm BA-ACK! And with--the SEQUAL OF DOOM! MUAHAHAHAHA!**

**Enjoy!

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"Where _are_ we?"**

It was the middle of summer—Tuesday July seventeenth, to be exact, and three o'clock in the afternoon. It was pretty quiet for a small town on the suburbs of a big city—and that's exactly what Bolingbrook, Illinois was. Very far out, to be sure—Chicago was about three miles away.

If you'd gone to the park, you would have seen a girl of just past fifteen sitting on a bench beneath an old oak tree. She would be leaning back and staring up at the sky, gold-flecked brown eyes closed almost all the way against the glare of the summer sun through her crooked, black-framed glasses. Her waist-length gold-blond hair would be hanging in a ponytail over the back of the bench, and a royal blue bandanna would be tied around her head. She would be wearing faded, baggy jeans and a long white T-shirt. Around her neck would be a black lanyard—on it her apartment key, a tiny hieroglyphics decoder, and a laminated YuGiOh card.

That's my favorite spot to just sit and think. And that girl happens to be me.

My name's Miriku Hernandez. As mentioned earlier, I'm about eleven days past fifteen. My personality? Oh, the usual teenage angstiness…with a good dose of sarcasm and psychoness thrown in, anyway. And that psychoness brought about the best summer vacation of my entire life.

It all happened last summer, in fact. Saturday, July eighth. I had been trying to watch the weekly episode of YuGiOh (which is my most favorite anime on the planet) on Kid's WB, when something _really_ strange happened. See, I have this tendency to talk to inanimate objects when I'm upset or stressed—and YuGiOh had been cancelled, so I had started yelling at my TV. Its response was to spit out Yuugi Mutou, Malik Ishtar, Ryou Bakura, and Seto Kaiba. Spirits attached—except Malik's. The spirits also had their own bodies, which led to a few problems that we all managed to smooth out. Later, we were also joined by Katsuya Jonouchi. And between the seven of them, myself, my five friends, and everyone else we met along the way, we'd made it a summer to remember—I mean, our adventures, ranged from toga parties and karaoke nights to solving sibling rivalry between three cat-girls!

But finally, after about two weeks all the anime people were sent home. I had left the next day, hoping for new friends in my new lifestyle.

But I had been in Illinois for the past year, and I _still_ hadn't made any new friends. No one had even paid attention to me for most of the year. I missed everyone I had met back in Florida.

Moodily, I twirled my lanyard between my fingers. Then I peered closely at the card. It was hued pink, like any normal trap card from the game. The picture was of a small wooden box overflowing with gold and jewels. And the name of the card was Pharaoh's Treasure.

I smiled a little. If you're thinking what I think you're thinking, than you're a pretty good thinker; I was given that card by Yami himself. I felt a small blush creeping up the back of my neck—he had given it to me after kissing me in front of everyone.

I really shouldn't be remembering that right now—after all, I _did_ cast a spell to make everyone who had met the anime characters forget that they'd ever existed in out real world. But the presence of the card had jogged my memory. And a few others remembered, too—those with…ah…'romantic ties'…to any of the characters.

I blinked suddenly. There was a sort of niggling sensation at the back of my mind, like I was missing something. Something really, really important…

That was impossible. There wasn't a cloud in the sky. The place was absolutely silent.

And it dawned on me. The wind had stopped blowing. The birds had stopped chirping. All the little lizards and such that ran through the grass had stopped moving. It was much too still; a deathly quiet had settled over the park.

A quiet that was suddenly broken by a rushing sound that built to a roar in an instant in the back of my head. It was deafening. I doubled over, squeezed my eyes shut, pressed my hands over my ears—

And tumbled onto the grass, the noise disappearing as fast as it had come. I sat up, and looked around. This was crazy. I wasn't even in the park any more.

Well, let me correct that. I wasn't in the _Bolingbrook_ park any more. But I was in a park. A park inside a city somewhere. And for some reason, I was getting a sense of déjà vu—like I had seen it before.

Suddenly, there was a loud clap—and six separate thuds. I looked over my shoulder—and gawked.

There on the grass lay Terra Cooper, Samantha (Sam) Parker, Sonja and Damien Edachi, Marik Rama, and Mikayla (Mikey) Labrador.

But they all looked different. Terra's normally dirty-blond hair was now black. Sam's long, wispy blond hair was now a deep auburn. Mikey—who was almost identical to me, but for her high cheekbones and angular face—had hair that was now a burnished gold. Sonja, who looked like a female Jonouchi, now had hair that, though it was its normal color, slightly resembles Mai's. And her twin Damien looked even more like Kaiba than he usually did—his hair actually lay flat, and he had slimmed down from muscle to wire. Marik's red-streaked black hair was now more red than black.

At almost the same time, they all sat up and looked around. "What the hell…?" were the first words out of Damien's mouth.

Sam straightened her overly-large wire-framed glasses—and blinked, pulling them off. "Hey! I don't need my glasses any more!" For some reason, her normally blue-green eyes had changed to a dreamy silver-blue.

She blinked again, and stared at the others. "Man, am I seein' things!"

Everyone else's eye colors had changed, as well—except for Damien and Sonja, who had sapphire blue and dark brown eyes, respectively. Terra's had gone from hazel to cobalt blue, Marik's from yellowy-gold to deep lavender, and Mikey's from gold-flecked brown (like mine) to clear amber.

All of them began to talk at once—telling each other what they looked like. Mikey pulled off her own glasses, and blinked. "Hey, I don't need mine, either!"

I squinted over the top of my glasses. Everything was still blurry to me. "That's not fair!" I grumbled, crossing my arms. "_I'm_ still blind as a bat! How come _you_ two don't need your glasses any more, but _I_ do!"

All of them whipped around. I swear their jaws hit the grass. "_Miriku!_" Terra exclaimed.

I grinned. "In person!"

Mikey blinked. "Uh—what _happened_ to you!"

I shrugged. "Dunno—maybe the same thing that happened to you? What do I look like?"

Sonja pulled a small flip-mirror out of her pocket. "Take a look."

I looked in the mirror—and gawked. My face was more aquiline and triangular that it had been, and my eyes had angled upward. They had become the same shade of amethyst as Yuugi's. And my hair—

I had bangs like Yuugi's. Only they were half as thick—and twice as long. The blue bandanna I'd been wearing was holding my hair _behind_ the bangs—but my hairband was gone. My hair was now black, edged with blue. It spiked out on each side at my shoulders (where the spines were long enough to reach outward to my elbows) and halfway down my back (where the ends touched my waist). The rest hung down like normal hair, reaching the back of my knees.

"Uh…whoa…"

Damien smirked a little. "That's what _we_ said."

I blinked at them. "Okay, so I look the freakiest out of all of us. That we can agree on. Now, where the heck _are_ we?"

Marik shrugged. "We have no idea—do you?"

I sweatdropped. "If I knew, I wouldn't have asked."

"Oh yeah…"

I rolled my eyes. "All right, smart one. What do you say to us figuring this out?"

"Sounds like a good idea," Mikey said, standing up.

I sighed. "If it weren't a good idea, I wouldn't have suggested it. Now, come on!"

Suddenly, there was another crack and thump from behind them. We all looked—and saw a girl.

She had shoulder-length brown hair with natural-looking gold and red highlights. She looked about as tall as me.

I blinked. She reminded me of a girl I had heard rumors about in school—Erica Drache. She was rumored to be about as strange as me, and very nice—but I had never met her in person. I'd only seen her across the cafeteria at lunch.

She groaned a little, opening her light brown eyes—and closing them again. "Ooh. Turn off the _sun…_"

I poked her a little. "Rise and shine, Erica…"

It worked. The girl sat up and blinked. "How do you know my name?" she demanded.

I shrugged. "School."

Erica blinked at me for a moment. "Aren't you Miriku—that new girl around school from Florida? But—what _happened_ to you?"

She then looked around. "…And where are we?"

Terra shrugged. "We have no idea."

Erica looked at them. "Who are _you_ guys?"

I grinned. "These are a few of my friends from back in Florida—Terra Cooper, Marik Rama, Sonja and Damien Edachi, Sam Parker, and Mikey Labrador. Now—we were just about to go figure out what happened. Want to come with us?"

Erica smiled, accepting my hand up. "Sure!"

**

* * *

****_Sonja POV_**

"I _know_ this place!" Miriku exclaimed exasperatedly. "I _know_ I know this place!"

I rolled my eyes. "Well, that's all fine and dandy—but do you know how to figure out where we are?"

Miriku deathglared me. "Sonja. Shut up."

I heard a faint gasp, and whipped around—only to catch a quick flash of someone racing around a corner into an alleyway.

Erica laughed. "You guys are great!"

I smiled at Erica, putting it out of my head. She was a nice person, really—and it turned out that she _also_ liked YuGiOh, and had a crush on Ryuji Otogi (Duke Devlin). It was too weird for words.

Suddenly, Miriku stopped. We all crashed into her.

"What's the big idea!" Damien exclaimed.

I saw her face. She was staring at something. I looked ahead.

It appeared that we had reached the town square. The whole area was paved in red brick. In the center was a low circular wall, with shrubbery inside it. Rising tall on a thick column was a huge, working clock.

Mikey cautiously tapped Miriku's shoulder. "Do you know where we are?" she asked hopefully.

Miriku looked at Mikey, wide-eyed. "Clock Tower Square," she breathed. Her head jerked around to the left. "Follow me! I know _exactly_ where we are!"

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**Is that any good? I'm _still_ not very proficient at starting stories...**

**Review, please!**


	2. Reunion

**_WARNING: Authoress Miriku Hernandez will have very little time on the computer, due to the fact that she is in the process of moving from Miami, Florida to Bolingbrook, Illinois. This process could take up to two months._**

**Don't say I didn't warn you!_

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_**

**Reunion**

_**Yuugi POV**_

I stared off into space, idly tapping my fingers on the counter. This was a slow time of day—one or two people would come in, browse, and sometimes buy something, but usually there were no customers until the business rush at four or five o'clock. Like now, for instance. I was absolutely bored.

That is—until the door slammed open. I jumped, startled, as Ryou ran in. "_Yuugi!_" He skidded to a halt in front of the counter and bent over, panting.

I raised an eyebrow. His entry had caused quite a racket—the bells had yet to stop jingling. "…Ryou? Did something happen?"

Ryou nodded. He straightened, finally catching his breath. "I saw them out on the street—I almost can't believe it's them—they look so different—but I heard the name—it's got to be them—"

I held up my arms. "Yukkuri! Slow down, Ryou! Now, take a deep breath and tell me what happened."

Ryou looked around, and then leaned forward dramatically. "I think I saw _them._"

I blinked. "Are you serious? How do you know?"

Ryou furrowed his brow. "Well…I don't know for sure…it sounded like them…and they said the name—Sonja…"

I felt a pang. _Sonja…_ "There are a lot of people named Sonja, though."

"Not here in Japan."

"Who says they're from—"

There was a loud shout from outside. The door slammed open once more, setting the bells off on their ringing racket again. "—and when I saw the clock, everything just clicked, and I remembered why this city looked so familiar! It was so obvious! I _knew_ I could find this place!"

I blinked. The girl standing in the doorway looked absolutely foreign to me. But that voice was unmistakable. She stood there, laughing, not even looking inside yet.

"Miriku?" I whispered incredulously.

* * *

**_Miriku POV_**

Laughing triumphantly, I stepped into the Kame Game Shop. "I've always wanted to visit this place!"

Looking down the single aisle, I caught sight of two familiar figures. I waved, laughing again at the shock on their faces. "Yuugi! Ryou! It's me, Miriku!"

Ryou's eyes widened even further. "I _knew_ it!" he said faintly.

I looked over my shoulder. "Come on, guys! Yuugi and Ryou are in here!"

The first two into the shop, of course, were Mikey and Sonja. Mikey immediately ran to Ryou, while Sonja slid up to the counter to greet Yuugi.

I smiled as Damien, Marik, Sam, Terra, and Erica entered. Erica stared as Mikey and Ryou hugged, and Sonja gently placed her hand on Yuugi's. "What are they doing?"

"We've all met before," Terra said quietly.

At Erica's shocked expression, I explained. "Last summer, a bunch of these guys popped out of my TV. It's a long story—too long to explain right now." I quickly introduced her to Yuugi and Ryou.

Yuugi looked up at those of us he already knew. "But what happened to you guys?" he asked. "You all look so different!"

Damien shrugged. "No idea."

Ryou laughed, looking at Sam. "Just wait until Bakura sees you!"

I blinked. "You mean, he's not—" I gestured at the Millennium Ring.

Ryou laughed again, fingering the center-most of the five spikes. "No—Yuugi and I wear out Items out of habit nowadays. The two of them never converted back into spirit form."

I felt hope rising. "Bakura—_and_ Yami?"

Yuugi's expression darkened considerably. "Yami. You don't want to see Yami."

I blinked. "What? Why not?"

Ryou and Yuugi exchanged glances. "Nothing. I'll explain it later."

He smiled. "But now—I think it's time for a little get-together. With everyone."

* * *

**_Bakura POV_**

I lounged on Ryou's couch, absently flipping through channels. There was _nothing_ on—as usual.

_**/Bakura!**_

I rolled my eyes. _/Whaddaya want?_

**_/What I want you to do is call Kaiba, and tell him to meet us with Mokuba outside the Duel Dome. And I mean, right now! You need to come, too!_**

I sighed, standing up and turning off the TV. _/This'd better be good, Ryou!_

He just laughed.

* * *

**_Kaiba POV_**

_Rrrring…_

_Rrrring…_

_Rrrring…_

Automatically, I reached for the phone. "Kaiba."

"'Bout time you answered your damn phone."

I sighed. "What is it, Bakura?"

"I have no idea. Ryou wants you to bring Mokuba and meet us outside of the Duel Dome."

"All right. I suppose I could take the rest of the day off. Give us about twenty minutes."

I hung up before he could respond, and began to pack away my papers. I paused for a moment, smiling a bit at the two pictures on my desk. One was of Mokuba and me. The other was of me—and Terra Cooper.

I touched the picture. Back in her world, the teen twins had dragged us all to a fair, and paired me up with her. She had then dragged me into a photo booth. I looked different in that picture, due to an illusion Miriku had cast—but it was still me.

_Terra…_

I looked away, sliding the rest of my papers into my briefcase and shutting it with a snap. There was no time to dwell on the past. I had somewhere to be.

**

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__****Miriku POV**

I tapped my foot impatiently, looking around. We were in the middle of the Duel Dome parking lot—but no one else was there.

"Where _is_ everybody?" Damien said in an irritated voice, mirroring my thoughts. "We've been out here for half an hour!"

"Ten minutes," Yuugi corrected, laughing. "You still haven't learned much patience."

"I shouldn't have to!" He ran his fingers through his hair—which straightened immediately afterwards.

At that moment, there was a loud noise. Four motorcycles roared down the street, skidding to a halt just inside the parking lot. On the first were Malik and Anzu Mazaki; on the second were Jonouchi and Mai Kujaki; on the third was Hiroto Honda; and on the fourth was Bakura.

The three men halted the bikes, setting out the kickstands. Malik carefully helped Anzu off of his bike, while the other three slid off with ease and walked over.

Jonouchi blinked at me, and then looked at Yuugi. "Uh…who's dis? Since when do ya have a sisteh, Yuug?"

Yuugi grinned. "I don't."

Bakura raised an eyebrow. "She looks almost exactly like you, runt."

Yuugi pouted. "I'm not a runt! Besides, don't you recognize her?"

Malik blinked. "We're supposed to know her?"

Ryou grinned. "You, Bakura, and Jonouchi are."

I laughed. "Malik, I honestly didn't think you'd forget the time you chased me all around my apartment, trying to kill me!"

Malik's eyes widened. "_Miriku!_"

I rolled my eyes. "No, it's Kimiru," I said sarcastically, still grinning. "Bakayarou! Of _course_ I'm Miriku!"

Jonouchi blinked. He rubbed his eyes, and blinked again. "Is dat really _you!_"

I grinned. "Yeah! It's awesome! And most everyone else is here, too! Look—Terra, Sonja, Mikey, Damien, Sam, Marik…"

Malik blinked. "Marik? Wait—why aren't you trying to glomp me?"

Marik grinned toothily. "Did you want me to?"

Malik winced a little. "Not particularly. But _some_ acknowledgement would be nice."

Anzu shook her head. "I'm confused, guys. Are these friends of yours?"

Yuugi grinned sheepishly at her. "Remember last summer when all of us disappeared for a few weeks? And when we came back, we told you the whole story?"

Honda nodded. "We thought you were all off your rockers!"

Ryou grinned wider. "Meet a few of our friends from the other world." He looked at Erica. "…Except her. We don't know her."

"That's Erica Drache," I said quickly.

Terra tapped her foot impatiently. "Where is Kaiba!" she exclaimed.

Anzu blinked at her. "Kaiba? He's coming?"

"He'd better be coming," Bakura grumbled. His arm was around Sam's shoulder. "I wasted at least fifteen minutes trying to reach him."

I looked off down the street—and grinned. "Here he comes now!"

Sure enough, a sky-blue Acura convertible zipped up and into the parking lot. The ragtop was down, and Mokuba was leaning over the side, waving.

As they pulled into a parking space, Kaiba yanked on Mokuba's shirt, pulling the young boy down. He then shut off the ignition, and stepped out.

"Hey, guys!" Mokuba called, running up. "How are you?"

"We're fine," Yuugi replied, a grin on his face. "We have some new people for you to meet—and for your 'nii-san to get reacquainted with!"

Kaiba, who had just approached, raised an eyebrow. "Is that so?"

Grinning a little, Damien stepped up to him. "Hello, Kaiba."

Kaiba blinked, completely taken by surprise. "Who—?"

Marik yanked on Damien's arm, grinning cheekily. "All right, Kaiba no eizou, you can back off now!"

Damien rolled his eyes. "It's bad enough when _Sonja_ calls me that!" he complained. "Now _you're_ doing it, too!"

Mokuba stared around at us. "Uh, Seto? Wasn't there a girl named Sonja there when you went to that other world last summer?"

Kaiba nodded. "Yeah—there was…"

Terra elbowed Damien and Marik aside, stepping up to Kaiba. There was an odd, closed-off expression on her face. "Long time no see, Kaiba."

Kaiba's eyes widened for a moment, and then narrowed. "Cooper. How…nice…to see you."

There was absolute silence for a few moments. Then the two of them suddenly collapsed into laughter.

Erica stared at them, and then looked at me. "What the heck is going on?"

I grinned. "Nothing, really. The two of them had a love/hate relationship for a long time. Apparently, they just brought it up—and dropped it again—for old times' sake."

Erica nodded slowly. "I think I get it…"

Looking around as everyone talked and introduced themselves and each other, I noticed that Damien's glance kept wandering over to Anzu, and then flickering back to the conversation. And that, at odd moments, Anzu would glare at me.

Catching her eye the next time she glared, I raised an eyebrow and mouthed, "What?"

Anzu shook her head a little, an angry glint in her eye. "Later," she mouthed.

I sighed. Somehow, I got the feeling it had to do with Yami…

Jonouchi suddenly looked up from where he'd been talking to Sam. "Dis calls fer a celebration, guys! Let's go to da arcade!"

Honda pumped a fist into the air. "I second that motion!"

Yuugi made a face. "You would." He smiled broadly. "I suppose we could go to the arcade."

As we all walked towards the arcade, I dropped behind—as did Anzu. "Okay, so, what's with all the deathglaring all of a sudden?" I asked in a whisper.

Anzu sighed. "It's about Yami. He's…well, if you're going back with Yuugi, then you'll see." Her eyes hardened. "And it's your fault."

I blinked. "…What happened to him?" I couldn't keep the worry out of my voice.

Anzu shook her head. "Yuugi made us promise not to tell. You'll have to see it for yourself when you get there." And she walked off.

I stared after her. _What could have happened to him? And how is it my fault?

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_

...**I see bad things on the horizon...**

**Review, please!**


	3. Revelation

**Okay, that didn't take too long...but don't get your hopes up...

* * *

Revelation**

I smiled, watching as the others walked off. We had decided who would stay with whom—Sam and Mikey went with Ryou and Bakura, Sonja and Damien with Anzu, Terra with Kaiba, Erica with Jonouchi, Marik with Malik, and me with Yuugi.

As the two of us walked down the street, I glanced at Yuugi. "What happened to Yami?"

Yuugi remained silent. He averted his eyes.

I rolled my eyes. "Is this a conspiracy or something! Why won't anyone tell me what's happening!"

"Because we don't want the whole world to know," Yuugi said quietly. "If we say it out there, someone might hear—and word would spread. I don't want that to happen…this is hard enough to handle as it is…"

I couldn't keep the anxiety out of my voice. "Anzu said it was my fault…"

Yuugi kept his head down. His eyes were shaded by his bangs. "It is, sort of…"

I glared at him. "Thanks a _lot_. That's a _real_ morale-booster."

Yuugi sighed, unlocking the door to the game shop and slipping in. "Just let me show you. Come on."

He locked the door behind me, and led me up the stairs. He then pointed to one of the doors. "In there," he whispered. "Go in."

Apprehensively, I opened the door—and recoiled with a gasp.

I saw Yami.

And I also saw why Yuugi had been avoiding saying anything about him.

"He's drunk," Yuugi said from behind me, a note of disgust in his voice. "Drunk as a loon—and loving every second of it."

It was true. The pharaoh was sprawled out on the bed, left leg an arm dangling over the side of the bed, a large brown bottle held loosely by its neck in his left hand. He was even snoring a little.

The bottle was a quarter off the way full. I pulled it from his slack hand, sniffed at the mouth—and wrinkled my nose. "Wine. Where did he get wine?"

Yuugi shrugged helplessly. "I tried to hide all the stuff Bakura got him. He always finds it."

My eyes narrowed. "Bakura. I should have known."

Yuugi sighed a little. "Let me tell you everything. It started a little bit after school let out for the summer…"

**

* * *

Flashback  
__****Yuugi POV**

Hearing voices from downstairs, I paused in the act of getting ready to go to sleep, listening.

"Come on, it's just for tonight!"

"I don't know…"

Bakura laughed. "Damn, you're chicken! Just like back in Egypt—the stuff's only bad for you if you drink too much!"

"But—"

"It'll help you stop thinking about Miriku!" Bakura interrupted in a wheedling tone.

I winced. That was a very sore spot with Yami—he couldn't stop thinking about Miriku, and it distracted him from everything else. He had already practically cut himself off from the entire world.

"…I suppose one time wouldn't hurt…"

**

* * *

End Flashback  
__****Miriku POV**

"…and Bakura brought him back stoned," Yuugi finished grimly. "After that, Yami just wouldn't stop drinking…it was a way for him to deaden himself to everything…"

I groaned. "Let me guess. Nowadays, this is pretty normal?"

Yuugi nodded. "He comes down every now and then for food—he just scarfs it down and heads back upstairs to drink more wine and _sake_."

My eyes narrowed. "Leave me alone with him for a while. I may be able to help."

Yuugi shook his head, a helpless expression on his face. "I've tried everything—it's not going to work. He'll probably just start drinking more, because he'll think he's hallucinating."

I crossed my arms. "Yuugi. You once told me to not give up on him, even though I thought all was lost. This time, I'm not giving up no matter what."

Yuugi was silent for a minute. "I'll go make something for dinner." He left, closing the door behind him.

I turned to look at Yami, wrinkling my nose. "All right, you stupid pharaoh—it's time for a wake-up call."

I hauled him back up onto the bed by his arms, and bent over. "Yami!" I whispered in his ear. "Yami, can you hear me?"

Yami's fingers twitched a little, but he remained asleep. Or passed out—whichever one it was.

I shook his shoulder as hard as I could, yelling in his mind. **_Yami! Wake up, dammit!_**

Finally, I got a response. Yami's eyes fluttered open a bit. They were dull and unfocused. "Go 'way…'m sleepin'…"

I winced at the slurring of his words. **_Not any more, you're not! Get off your butt, you damn drunkard!_**

Yami blinked at me, sitting up. "An' jus' who the hell're you?"

I felt a pang deep in my chest. Even forcibly reminding myself that he was drunk didn't help. **_I _should_ slap you silly for that one, but I won't. From today on out, _you will stop drinking!**

Yami's eyes narrowed. "I don' want to."

I grinned a little, coming up with the perfect plan in my spur-of-the-moment fashion. **_Well, _Miriku_ wants you to!_**

I saw the shock flit across his face. "How do _you_ know!" For a second, his words weren't slurred, but sharp and angry. His eyes snapped into focus, and glinted angrily.

My smile widened a little. This would work.

_**I know. I know she's upset. She doesn't like seeing you like this. She knows you're above things like this. She doesn't want you feeling sorry for yourself because of her.**_

I squeezed his shoulder. **She wants to see you back to normal.**

Yami was back in his more-or-less drunk state by now—but he nodded. "I'll try…"

I smiled a little. **_You'd better—or, as you well know, Miriku will _really_ kick your butt._**

But he was already asleep again.

I exited the room, a satisfied smile on my face, and headed down the stairs.

Yuugi looked up at me as I entered the kitchen. "Well, Miri-aneki? What happened?"

I grinned. "I got him to promise to stop drinking."

Yuugi blinked. "Did you? That's great!"

My grin widened. "And just wait 'til you see how I did it!"

Suddenly, both of us looked up. There were heavy footsteps coming from the stairwell.

"I think I'll hide for a few minutes," I said quickly—and slipped around the corner into the living room before Yuugi could respond, making sure I could still see.

Yami staggered into the kitchen, using the walls for support. He lurched over to the table and sank down into one of the chairs. "I jus' had the _weirdest_ dream," he proclaimed loudly.

Yuugi looked over his shoulder at Yami, before pulling the wok off the stove and setting it on the table. "Really?" he asked in a falsely curious voice. "What happened?"

Yami smiled a little. "Some gal came, sayin' she knew Miriku—an' I'm gonna stop drinkin'."

Yuugi blinked. He glanced at me. I winked.

Yami's expression became serious. "But you gotta help me, Yuugi…dunno 'f I c'n do it by myself…"

Yuugi smiled—a genuine smile. "I'll help you. And I bet that girl from your dream will, too."

"Y' don' think she's jus' a dream?"

"If she was just a dream, she wouldn't have been able to talk to Miriku."

"Yeah…"

Yami stood up. "I'm gon' take a shower," he said firmly, and walked off—with a bit less lurching and staggering.

I entered the room again. "See?"

"I _do_ see," Yuugi murmured. "I see that you're a miracle worker…"

I shook my head. "Not me. I just help…and hope for the best…"

Yuugi smiled. "I'm sure he'll be absolutely fine—thanks to you."

I smiled a little in return. "I hope so. I really hope so…"

* * *

**...Kinda short, but eh...**

**Review, please!**


	4. Recovering

**Okay, timelines are a bit skewed in this chapter, but what theheck.

* * *

**

Recovering

I collapsed back with a sigh on the bed Yuugi had prepared for me. Staying out of Yami's sight was proving difficult—even though it had only been a few hours, he was already going in alcohol withdrawal, which meant random wanderings of the game shop between long periods of time in the bathroom and bedroom. I knew he was resilient—but this time, there may have been too much damage already done to heal…

I stared at the ceiling for a while, just thinking. This wasn't what I had expected—I mean, I had dreamed of coming to the YuGiOh world even _before_ last summer's incident, but I had always imagined a completely different reaction.

All I can say is, the welcoming committee hadn't been very nice.

I groaned a little, remembering Anzu—and the fact that she'd had a crush on Yami for the longest time. And with our Kaiba look-alike having a crush on _her…_

This wasn't going to be pretty.

I jumped as the door creaked open. Yami staggered in. I tried to slip behind the bed—but he'd already spotted me.

"Hey! You're not no dream!"

I winced a little. It would take a long time for him to get over the mis-speaking of words…

It's either "You aren't a dream" or "You're not a dream," I said dryly. Besides, how do you know you're not having hallucinations? After all, you're still pretty well intoxicated. 

"'Cause you're standin' right there."

_**That doesn't mean crap.**_

"Bet if you wanted to, you could even talk normally instead of into my head!"

I chose not to reply to that. **_Get some sleep, mister pharaoh. It's late._** I tried to keep my voice hard and commanding, but some affection filtered over.

Yami smiled a little at me. "All right, Ser'gent Stranger." He tossed me a sketchy salute, and staggered out the door.

I sat back down on the bed. That had been much too close for comfort.

At least he was getting better…

**

* * *

**

_**Yami POV**_

I woke up the next morning—and wished I hadn't. My head felt as if it were going to split in two. Every little sound sent lances of pain through my skull. The window was wide open—when I opened my eyes, I immediately had to shut them again.

Basically—I had a hangover from the seventh hell.

Covering my eyes with my hand, I dragged myself out of bed and got dressed. My head was pounding as I went downstairs.

"Yuugi…do you have any migraine medicine?"

Yuugi 'tsk'ed, pattering over to the medicine cabinet. "Yami, Yami, Yami—you go and get drunk, remain drunk for months, and then expect to come off just fine? You may be an almighty pharaoh, but you sure aren't an invincible one."

I grimaced. "Thanks a lot. That's a real confidence booster there." I took the medicine bottle, downed two of the pills—and sighed with relief as the headache slowly but immediately began to fade. "So, what's for breakfast?"

Yuugi gestured absently at the stove from where he was rummaging about in the cabinet. "Oatmeal. Help yourself." He set one bowl on the counter, slid it to me, and took the second one for himself.

Not until I bent over and sniffed the oatmeal did I realize how absolutely starving I was. And I smelled strawberries-and-cream…

Yuugi poked me. "Are you just gonna stand there, or are you getting breakfast? You're not the only one here who's starving!"

I smiled a little, filling my bowl and making my way to the table. It wasn't too hard to get around now—the headache was mostly gone (thank Ra), but I still felt a bit woozy.

Yuugi looked up at me. "So, have you had any visits from your friend? You know, the one from your dream?"

I grinned. "Yes. Last night I called her Sergeant Stranger…"

Yuugi nearly burst out laughing. "Are you serious!"

I shrugged. "As she so blandly pointed out, I was still more than half drunk at the time."

I stared off into space for a moment. "I wish she'd say something about Miriku…"

Yuugi patted my arm from across the table. "C'mon, Yami, it's not _that_ bad…"

I grimaced. "Yes. It is. Just thinking of her makes me want to down a bottle of _sake…_and I can't stop thinking about her…"

Yuugi sighed. "Yami…you need to get over it…"

I narrowed my eyes a little. "Why should I?"

Yuugi glared at me. "Frankly? It's because I'm tired of seeing you like this. You mope around all day—it was bad enough before you got into drinking, and then you did, and it got even worse."

There was truth in his words—no matter how stinging the delivery. "Sumimasen, Yuugi…you're right…"

Yuugi smiled a little. "'Course I am. Now eat your breakfast."

He didn't have to ask me twice.

I finished quickly and set my bowl in the sink. "I'm going up on the roof while it's still twilight."

Yuugi smiled a little. "Now I _know_ you're feeling better. You go ahead and do that."

I smiled back at him, before climbing up the stairs, walking into Yuugi's room, and opening the skylight hatch-style. I hauled myself up onto the roof—and froze.

The way I had pulled myself up, I was facing east, towards the sunrise. And what I saw was a girl, sitting with her legs swinging over the edge of the roof. She looked a lot like my 'Sergeant Stranger'. Standing up, I crept closer—and realized she was singing softly.

"…_playin' the role  
__Of the happy girl, but no one knows  
__Inside I'm alone  
__Though I would never let it show_

_I get every day  
__Too much work and not enough play—  
__Over and over, it's always the same…  
__Yeah…_

_But you can make everything okay…_"

I recognized the words—and felt a twinge of pain. Miriku had often played it on her computer…

"Hullo, Sarge," I said quietly, a small smile on my face. "Please explain to me how I can be hallucinating _this_ time around.

The girl whipped around—and blinked. "Ehehe…yeah…about that…uh…hi?"

I blinked a little. She sounded oddly familiar…

She smiled at me, standing up and dusting off what, seeing as how the arms and legs were an inch or two too short, looked like Yuugi's spare night robe and sweatpants. "Okay, okay, you've caught me—I'm no hallucination. Now, I don't know about you, but I haven't had breakfast yet—I'm starving!" She trotted over to the skylight and slipped in.

Half-dazed, I followed her. She sounded so cheerful, as opposed to last night and the day before…

_I know I've met her before…_

I arrived at the kitchen hall a minute or two after her, since I had to close the skylight.

"—scared the crud out of me!" the girl was saying with a laugh. "I didn't even hear him come up!"

I paused, just listening.

Yuugi laughed a little. "He _is_ very light on his feet, when he wants to be. Smooth as a cat."

"Or a desert lion," the girl added. "I was just sitting there, singing a little—and I suddenly hear him talking to me out of nowhere!"

Her voice suddenly became sober. "It's good to see he's getting back to normal…I don't like lying, even if it _is_ for the best…"

"Well, as soon as we _know_ he won't go back to drinking, you can tell him."

I crossed my arms, and stepped into the doorway. "Tell me _what,_ exactly?"

All motion in the kitchen ceased. Two pairs of amethyst eyes stared at me.

"Yami—please don't get mad at us—we thought it was for the best—"

I glared at Yuugi. "Well, in case you hadn't noticed," I said stiffly, "I'm _not_ going back to drinking. So spill it. Who in the seven hells _is_ this?"

Yuugi looked at the girl. She took a deep breath and stood up. "Remember when I told you that I knew Miriku…?"

I looked at her. My eyes narrowed at the guilty expression on her face "Yes. I do. Why?"

"Well…I lied." She pulled a black lanyard out of her pocket, fumbled at it for a second, and held it out to me. Her eyes were averted.

I pulled the card from her hand, and blinked, realizing it was laminated. The card was a holographic, limited-edition trap card called—

Pharaoh's Treasure.

I stared at the card—and then at the girl in front of me. Everything suddenly clicked.

"Miriku…?"

She nodded slowly. "I didn't want you to do something stupid…so I didn't tell you who I was…"

I just shook my head. "How did you _get_ here?"

"_You're_ asking _me?_" she said dryly.

I couldn't help but laugh. "Same old koishii…"

She smiled. "I missed you, Yami…"

Yuugi coughed a little. "Uh…shouldn't we go meet the others at the park?"

Miriku clapped a hand to her forehead—a familiar gesture that I had come to miss. "Yeah! Right! Okay, I need to go get dressed, then!" She looked at me. "I hope you don't mind me stealing clothes, but you're only one size bigger than me, as opposed to Yuugi's being two sizes to small."

"_Heyy!_"

"What? It's true!"

"You don't have to make it sound so mean!"

I raised my hands. "Please, both of you!" I looked at Miriku. "You go ahead and use one of my spare outfits."

She smiled at me. "Arigatou!" She sprinted off and up the stairs.

Yuugi smiled. "She's not the only one who came back. Terra's here…Sam…Marik…Sonja…Damien…and a new girl named Erica."

I blinked. "Wait a second. _Damien's_ here?"

I grimaced at Yuugi's affirmative nod. "This may lead to a few problems…"

Anything Yuugi was about to say was cut off by Miriku's return. She trotted down the stairs wearing one of my black tank tops, jeans, and the Domino High overcoat. "Okay—I'm ready!"

I couldn't help but laugh. "You look like a girl version of Yuugi!"

"Malik has already pointed that out, thanks," Yuugi said dryly.

Miriku grinned. "All right, people, what are we waiting for? Come on! Let's go!"

* * *

**(laughs) Yay for happy endings! The next chapter--or maybe two chapters--is/are gonna be about the others and how they assimilated, so don't worry.**

**Review, please!**


	5. Settling In

**(runs away from pitchfork-weilding reviewers)  
****...THANK YOU FOR THE HELP, SONJA-SAN!  
****(runs farther)

* * *

Settling In **

**_Terra POV_**

I gaped as we walked up to the mansion from where Kaiba had parked the convertible. "Holy heck. This place looks even bigger than it does on TV!"

"We get that a lot," Mokuba laughed.

Kaiba unlocked the door and pushed it open. "Get in here, you two. I don't want you guys freezing or anything."

"It's the middle of summer!" Mokuba protested as the two of us stepped inside.

I stared around, shock plastered across my face. "…Whoa…I'll be lucky if I manage to find my way to a _bathroom_ without getting lost!"

Mokuba laughed. "I can give you a tour, if you want."

"…That would be greatly appreciated."

"Then c'mon!"

And so, I was dragged all over the house (but I did enjoy every second of it). What would become my bedroom was all hung in blues. It was a few doors to the left of Kaiba's and the right of Mokuba's. I was also showed around the foyer, the living room (which had a huge TV and just about every game system ever made hooked up to it), the dining room, and, Mokuba's self-titled 'Favorite Room', the rec room. Once again, they had just about every game imaginable. Including—

"_Karaoke Revolution!_ Cool! Let's play!"

And so we did—almost every single game in there, we played. And it wasn't until about the fifth round of Capsule Monster Coliseum that I realized something.

"Hey…where did Kaiba go?"

Mokuba shrugged. "I have no idea…do you think we should look for him?"

I sighed. "Yeah, actually, I think that would be a _very_ good idea."

We exited the rec room, and the two of us split up. Mokuba headed downstairs, and I searched around upstairs.

One of the last places I looked was Kaiba's room. And that, of course, was where he was.

I knocked on the door, and pushed it open after hearing a half-hearted, "Enter." He was staring out his window, arms crossed.

"…Kaiba? You all right?"

Kaiba glanced over his shoulder, and then looked back out the window. "Maybe…"

I rolled my eyes. Same old Kaiba. "What're you thinking about?"

"Things. None of which concern you."

I stomped up to him and grabbed his arm. "You'd better tell me!"

Kaiba turned. Cobalt eyes deathglared me from eight inches above my head. "Or _what,_ Cooper?"

He was trying to look intimidating, and it probably would have worked on anyone except me. My immediate response was to turn on my version of Mokuba's "puppy-eyes of doom" look.

After a minute or two, Kaiba caved. "I was just thinking about myself. That's all." He turned to look out his window again.

I laughed. "And that's new?"

If looks could kill, I'd probably be a fine red mist right about now. "Not like that. I was just thinking how…odd…this is."

I raised an eyebrow. "Odd?"

Kaiba smiled a little. "Odd. Odd that I, who have prided myself in brushing off any suitor as if she was dust, am faced with a girl—woman—who isn't even from my dimension, who both frustrates and completes me, and who I couldn't bear to leave…"

"…I don't think I've ever heard you say anything that deep," I said softly.

I didn't realize how close I was until my head was practically resting against Kaiba's chest. Casually, I took a step back. "And of course it feels odd. You're a cold bastard more than half the time, and you were trained to be in love with your computer instead of a female."

Kaiba growled. "Take that back."

I smirked. "Make me."

Whoops. Not the smartest thing to say. I ended up running around the room, Kaiba hot on my heels.

I jumped up onto the chair by his computer, and he skidded to a halt. "Get down from there!" he snapped. "You'll get it dirty!"

I laughed. "I'm only wearing socks, agoraphobic!"

"That's not the point!" he snapped. I laughed, and jumped a little on the chair.

Once again, not a good idea. The chair was one of those wheeled ones. Therefore, it rolled sideways…

…I fell forward…

…Right into Kaiba…

…And as I grappled at him so as not to hit the floor, our lips met…

…Just as Mokuba walked in.

Mokuba stared at us—and then let out a whoop. "_Finally!_"

This would have been a very romantic moment, if it weren't for the fact that both Kaiba and I were completely surprised. I had grabbed Kaiba around the neck to prevent myself from falling, and he'd grabbed my waist in an attempt to keep me from slamming into him. His trench coat was, as usual with its ever-present resistance to gravity, flared out—but in front of him instead of behind, obscuring view up to our waists.

At Mokuba's exclamation, we both let go. I tumbled to the ground with a yelp. "Hey! That hurt!"

Kaiba was staring at Mokuba, who was grinning cheekily. "So when is it?" the younger boy asked.

"When is what?" I asked crossly, rising to my feet. Kaiba glared suspiciously at his little brother.

Mokuba's grin widened. "The wedding! When is it?"

I felt myself blushing. Kaiba was, too.

Mokuba laughed. "I was just kidding! Come on, it's really late—we oughtta go to bed."

"Agreed," I said quickly. "G'night, boys." I left the room as quickly as possible.

_WHATTHEHELLJUSTHAPPENED?_

That was definitely the most awkward moment in my entire life…

**

* * *

__****Ryou POV**

I pushed open the door of the apartment I shared with Bakura. "It's nowhere near as nice as Miriku's—or as big. But there's enough room for the four of us…"

Mikey smiled a little. "I like it. It's cozy."

Sam grinned, flopping down on the couch. "Sweet pad, dude!"

Bakura glowered at her. "Hey, that's my spot! Move it or lose it, eco-freak!"

Sam stuck her tongue out at him; obviously pleased at the fact Bakura remembered his affectionate (if quite derogative) nickname. "Make me, psycho!"

Bakura grabbed her waist and tried to pry her off the couch. She collapsed into laughter. "Quit it! I'm ticklish!"

Bakura grinned. "Oh, really?" He immediately set to with his fingers.

I grinned, touching Mikey's wrist. "Come on—I'll show you around a little."

We ended up in my room. I glanced nervously at her. "So…how do you like my home?"

"I love it," was her immediate response.

"Really? It's not too low-class or anything?"

Mikey shot a fake glare at me. "Do I look like Kaiba to you?" She looked around again. "This place is almost exactly how I imagined it…" She began to move across the room—and tripped over a chest sticking halfway from under my bed.

I caught her before she fell too far. She blushed a little, standing up again. "What's in this chest?" she asked curiously.

I shrugged. "Those are my old games, from when I first moved here…"

Mikey opened the chest, and pulled out a box. She studied the lid, before pulling it off and holding one of the lead figurines up to the light.

"I can show you how to play, if you'd like," I offered. "I don't think Bakura will do anything this time…"

Mikey grinned. "Sure!"

And so we spent the rest of the night having a good time, playing one of my favorite games…

**

* * *

__****Anzu's POV**

I waved absently around the living room. "This is my place. My parents are out of town, and will be for the next few weeks. Just don't break anything…"

The blond girl, Sonja, whistled. "This place is too cool! Too bad they never showed it on TV!"

I grinned at her. Finally, I had a girl my age to talk to. Sure, Mai was nice and all, but we didn't really have much in common. And Shizuka…we talk, but she doesn't really understand some of the things I enjoy, like singing and dancing. But from what Yuugi told me, Sonja owned her own karaoke bar. I'd assume she's very knowledgeable about the performing arts.

And her brother…

Damien was sitting on my couch, looking around. When Yugi had told me he looked almost exactly like Kaiba, he wasn't kidding. Same height, same hair, same eyes…it's almost like I'm looking at his reflection come to life. But something told me that Damien isn't quite like him…

"Hey, are you going to stare at the wall all day, or what?"

My attention snapped back to Sonja, and I grinned sheepishly. "Gomen, Sonja…" I showed her around the house. She was going to sleep in my old room, which was now one of the guest rooms. Damien would get the other room.

"Hope you don't mind if I raid your wardrobe," Sonja laughed, sitting on the bed. "I mean, it isn't like I packed to come here—one minute I'm cleaning Shining Starr, and the next, I'm here!"

I nodded. "Sure thing!" …And a thought occurred to me. "What about Damien?"

Sonja blinked. "Hunh. Never thought of that… Ah, we'll deal with it tomorrow. It's getting late."

"Good point. I'll get Damien. G'night!"

"G'night, Anzu!"

**

* * *

__****Erica POV**

Jonouchi shut the door. "Well, dis is my little slice a' home. Hope ya don't mind da mess…"

I looked around. The apartment was small, but rather than making it seem crowed, the clutter gave it a homey, comfortable feel. "No, I don't mind the mess. My home isn't exactly neat, either."

Jonouchi grinned. "Dat's a relief."

I peered down the hall. There was a bathroom off to the left, and a room at the end of the hall and to my right.

"Da one at da end of da hall is mine," Jonouchi called from the kitchen area.

I nodded to myself, and entered the side room. There was a twin bed back against the wall, a wood desk/bookshelf, and a tall wardrobe. Both desk drawers and the wardrobe were empty.

_Uh-oh…I wonder what I'm going to wear…_

Oh well. Too late for that—it was almost nine o'clock.

I wandered back into the living room. "What've you got to eat?" I asked curiously. "I'm starving…"

Jonouchi grinned, gesturing at the fridge. "Lots 'a stuff—help yerself."

I nodded. "Thanks!"

**

* * *

__****Marik POV**

I looked around, eyes slowly widening. "Whoa! This is your _house?_"

Malik shrugged. "What did you expect? My big sister is, after all, one of the leading archaeologists of the world…"

"What about me, Malik?"

I blinked, and looked around. Ishizu had appeared from the door to the living room.

Malik grinned. "There you are, Ishizu. I'd like you to meet someone."

Ishizu delicately raised an eyebrow.

Malik's grin widened. "_This_ is Marik Rama. The one you said I made up as an excuse for disappearing." He looked at me. "Now, would it be possible for you to let go of me long enough to properly greet my sister?"

I let go of his arm to wave at Ishizu.

"Bye!" Malik zipped off.

I growled. "Malik Ishtar, get your butt back here!" I started chasing him.

I heard Ishizu laughing quietly as I ran past, and skidded to a halt. "What's so funny?"

Ishizu shook her head. "I have never seen my brother this happy. That is all…"

I laughed. "Well, if you like him like this, then get used to it—'cause I don't think I'm leaving any time soon!" I darted off again. "Oh, _Maaaaaliiiiik…_"

* * *

**(giggles madly) Malik is in trouble...  
...  
(runs away again, throwing cookies over shoulder) DON'T HURT MEEE!**


	6. Shopping Spree

**Dayum. I think I might be getting back to normal...  
Thanks again for the help, Sonja! Couldn't have done it without ya!

* * *

Shopping Spree**

_**Yuugi POV**_

Yami, Miriku, and I were the first three to reach the park. Yami had an arm around Miriku's shoulders, and he kept casting little smiles at her.

I rolled my eyes. I was glad that Yami wasn't going back into depression—but a loved one was a weakness. And who knew who had it in for Yami nowadays?

Miriku seemed to realize the same thing—or maybe she just thought it was a little too much. She bumped Yami's arm off her shoulders, grinning at him. "Please stop invading my personal space. The occasional hug is nice, but I'm not the kind of girl who needs constant contact with her boyfriend to feel loved."

Yami blinked at her. A smile crept across his face when he realized she wasn't upset, but stating a fact. "If you say so, Miriku-sama."

Miriku glared at him. "Oh, hell. Don't even start."

Yami held up his arms. "All right, all right!"

Miriku smiled. "Good boy." She looked around. "Where is everyone, anyway?"

"Everyone's here!"

The three of us whipped around. Everyone except Kaiba and Terra was there. I noticed that Damien was wearing his clothes from yesterday, and Marik and Erica seemed to be wearing their host's spare outfits, like Miriku was.

Anzu looked around. "The reason I called everyone is because I can't supply clothes for Damien, seeing as how I'm female. Miriku, Erica, Marik—you look like you've improvised pretty well, but…"

Yami furrowed his brow. "Hmm. That does make sense…I can't keep doing double with my clothes for Miriku…"

"Even though I don't mind," Miriku added.

Erica played with the hem of the white shirt she was wearing. It was much too big for her—Jonouchi had wide shoulders and a muscular build, as opposed to Erica's delicate frame. "I wouldn't mind getting some clothes that fit…no offense, Jonouchi…"

"None taken," the blond said quickly.

At that moment, Kaiba's blue Acura pulled up. Terra was also wearing yesterday's outfit.

Kaiba raised an eyebrow. "I see you've figured out our problem, as well. I suppose we need to go…dare I say it?"

Terra squealed. "_Shopping!_" She bounced excitedly in her seat.

I heard Miriku groan audibly, and grinned. She didn't really like shopping—a fact made evident when we had ended up in her world.

Kaiba sighed, unlocking the doors. "Pile in, people. And don't complain—there was even less room in Merekai's minivan."

No one complained. The only people with uncomfortable expressions were Anzu and Erica—but they'd never been inside the aforementioned minivan, so they wouldn't know.

**

* * *

__****Miriku POV**

I glared at the building as we approached it. "I hate shopping," I muttered.

Sonja grinned. "We know, Miriku. But you don't have much of a choice. Do you really want to spend the entire time wearing Yami's clothes?"

"I don't particularly mind—except for the fact that I'm not quite as linear as Yami."

"And what's that supposed to mean?"

I rolled my eyes, looking at Yami. "You're a guy. You're built different. That's all I meant."

Yami's eyes glinted as he smiled.

"What are you guys waiting for?" Terra called impatiently. "I want to shop!"

I sighed, trotting over to her. "Fine…"

Kaiba gave a card to each of us. "Use these."

Terra's eyes widened. "This is a credit card! How much is on here?"

Kaiba grinned. "The equivalent of five hundred dollars."

Terra's eyes widened. "Cool!"

I sighed. "Let's just get this over with…"

Terra, of course, was first to max out her card. She bought two or three of every type of clothing—dresses, mini-skirts, tank tops, jeans, you name it. They were in all sorts of colors and styles. "I like having a large variety of clothes," she said as she paid for a blue tube top. "That way, I almost never wear the same outfit twice." She also bought slippers, sandals, and another pair of sneakers.

Mikey was a bit more subtle. She was partial to monochrome blouses, and got an equal number of skirts and jeans. And then she blew the rest of her money on accessories, the most expensive of which was a set of necklaces. One was made of pearls, and one of obsidian spheres. Hanging from the pearl necklace was the angel half of a Change of Heart, and the demon half was on the obsidian necklace. She immediately gave the obsidian one to Ryou.

Sam was definitely the most flamboyant of all of us. She bought jeans that had been artfully ripped and had splashes of color, lots of randomly colored tie-die T-shirts, a burlap hip bag, and a pair of rubber sneakers. She also bought a charm necklace with little animals on it. Bakura made a few comments about it, but stopped after being repeatedly elbowed in the ribs.

Erica got a lot of blouses, most either red or black. Many were polka-dotted, which, according to Jonouchi, made her look like a ladybug. She also bought jeans, a pair of earrings, a black-and-red headband, and, oddly enough, a small container of kohl. (Jonouchi made a comment about looking like a female Otogi, but for her brown hair and eyes. She just glared, pocketing it.)

Marik was pretty limited in what she liked. She mostly got shirts of dark colors that showed her stomach, had chains, or both. She also got black jeans and black leather pants, with a few skirts thrown in for good measure. She was tempted to buy a cloak that resembled Malik's from a Halloween store—but her mind was forcibly changed as he dragged her away ("But _Malik!_" "No. No, no, _no!_").

When it came to tops, Sonja was very particular. She mostly got T-shirts and blouses, and they all had at least a hint of sparkles. She nearly emptied one store of their black jeans, proclaiming the fact that she hated skirts of any sort ("I'm glad I don't have a monstrous bank account, or I'd be in Kaiba's position right now," Damien commented, earning him a deathglare from said CEO). What little was left of her account was spent buying a few pairs of black leather boots and a black leather jacket.

Damien bought a bunch of plain polo shirts, a white hat with a black band around it ("Don't want to attract too much attention from Kaiba's fangirls," he said as he flipped it on, earning himself another deathglare), and, like his sister, lots of black jeans. ("What is wit' da Edachi twins an' black?" Jonouchi asked.) In one of the stores, he spotted a black blazer, and immediately rushed in to buy it ("Kaiba may love his trench coats, but 'nii-san really has an affinity for those blazers," Sonja said with a smile.). And then, he went into a game store and bought…

"You bought a _Duel Disk?_" Sonja whined. "You don't even duel that much!"

Damien grinned, waving it in front of her face. "You're just jealous because you blew the rest of your credit on that jacket."

"I can't _believe_ you! You _know_ how much I want one of those things!" She pouted, and then pointedly turned away from her brother. "Go ahead and gloat, just like your egotistic twin over there." Kaiba glared at the back of her head.

Damien nearly collapsed laughing, and pulled it off of his arm. "Relax, Sonja! I got it for you! I was just pretending it was mine to see that look on your face!"

Sonja glared at him, snatched the Duel Disc from his arms, and just stared at it, practically drooling.

Yami furrowed his brow. "Wait a second…you two duel?"

At that, we all anime-fell.

Anyway, I was the last to max out. And what does a girl who hates clothes-shopping buy? Well, I bought a lot of blue, white, and silver T-shirts, and jeans. I bought two form-fitting shirts—one blue with a black dragon on it, and the other white with the phrase "Growing old is mandatory; growing up is optional!" in sparkling silver. I also bought a few black tank tops, blue blazers, and black leather pants—styled for females, of course. At just about everyone's insistence ("You'd look lovely in it!" Terra exclaimed, getting nods of agreement all around.), I also bought a light blue tube top/long skirt outfit and a long blue dress. Of course, Terra made me buy black dress shoes to go with the outfits, and I also bought myself a new pair of sneakers. With the rest of my money, I bought Duel Discs for the rest of us who wanted them.

Once everyone was finished, we swung by the food court for lunch and a rest. My legs felt like they were about to fall off, and my arms hurt from the handles of the shopping bags digging into them. I couldn't imagine how Terra could enjoy it.

As Jonouchi went to get our food, Mikey looked around, smiling softly. "This is so weird. I first met you guys in the mall back home, while _you_ were shopping for _them._ Now we're in a mall in _their_ world, shopping for _us!_"

I grinned lopsidedly at her. "Oh, the irony."

Jonouchi walked up, multiple trays and bags balanced in his arms. "Here ya go! Dig in!"

He took his seat next to Sonja. "Ya know—ya told me you dueled, but ya never said you were any good!"

Sonja grinned. "Put it this way, koinu," she said smoothly, sipping her chocolate shake. "If you don't want to be humiliated, then don't even ask."

Jonouchi growled. "Dat's jus' great. Now I got _you_ callin' me dat, too!"

Damien grinned, patting the distraught blonde's shoulder. "There, there, Jonouchi…"

Yuugi laughed at Jonouchi's expression, and scooted closer to Sonja. "May I see your deck?"

Sonja shook her head, grinning apologetically. "No can do, short stack. One of the rules I remember is not to let anyone look through your deck, to avoid sabotage." Damien nodded in agreement.

Yuugi sighed a little.

"Well, look who we have here! What is this, a huge joint date or something?"

Anzu looked up. "Hey—Otogi! I thought you were in America!"

Ryuji Otogi grinned, straightening his red-and-black headband. A tray was balanced in his left arm. "I was—but I'm back. So, who _are_ these guys?"

Bakura grinned. "The people everyone said were figments of our imaginations."

"They're some of the people we met in that alternate dimension," Yami explained.

Otogi blinked. "You mean, you _weren't_ making that up? Weird…"

I noticed that Erica kept glancing at him and looking away. Then I remembered she had a crush on him.

I stood up. "Don't you think we should introduce ourselves?" I asked pointedly, glaring at the girls and Damien.

Otogi grinned. "I already know who you must be—the one and only Miriku Hernandez. You're the only one here who looks crazy enough to be her."

I glared at him, and then at the others at the table who were on the verge of falling out of their seats laughing. "Hey, just because he was right—!"

Yami grabbed my wrist. "Just leave it. I don't want any fighting…"

I sighed, sitting down. I noticed Anzu deathglaring me, though she turned her attention back to Otogi as soon as I looked at her. _Oh, great. Friendship-girl is still jealous. La dee friggin' da._

Terra grinned, and then waved at Otogi. "Terra Cooper, at your service. I'm with Kaiba."

"_Cooper!_"

"Hah! I _told_ ya you were agoraphobic!"

"I am _not!_"

Otogi raised an eyebrow. "…Do they always do that?"

"More than you know," Damien said dryly. "And before you say anything, I'm _not_ Kaiba's long-lost twin. The name's Damien Edachi. That's my sister, Sonja."

Sonja deathglared him. "I'm fully capable of introducing myself, you know."

"So?"

"Rawr."

"Oh, I'm _so_ scared."

Mikey rolled her eyes. "Mikayla Labrador—Mikey. Pleasure."

Sam nodded. "Samantha Parker. That's Sam, to you."

"And everyone else," Bakura muttered, earning himself a glare.

Marik grinned. "I am—MARIK RAMA! FEAR ME!"

Malik elbowed her. "Could you have been _any_ louder?" he hissed.

"Yep!" Marik said cheerfully. Everyone sweatdropped.

Erica glanced up at Otogi, and back at her food. "Erica Drache," she murmured.

Otogi grinned. "Nice to meet you all. …You got room here for one more?"

"Sure!" Yuugi said brightly.

Otogi took the empty seat next to Erica, smiling. "Hope you don't mind if I sit here. You look like you need a friend!"

Erica blushed so bright a red that it set everyone off into gales of laughter.

As soon as he finished his food, Jonouchi clamored for the arcade. Yuugi glared at him. "We went yesterday!"

"An' your point is?"

Yami sighed. "We'll call a vote. Who wants to go to the arcade?"

Everyone except Yuugi and Kaiba raised their hands.

Yami grinned. "Well, I guess we're going to the arcade—but I do think we should go home and change first."

Sonja nodded. "That's a good idea. Kaiba can drop us all off, since he has a car!"

Kaiba looked about to protest, but Terra elbowed him. "Of course he will!" She glared at him until, with a defeated sigh, he nodded.

I grinned. "I guess it's settled then! Go home, get changes, go to the arcade, and kick some butt at DDR!"

Anzu smirked. "You'll have to go through me first."

"Was that a challenge?"

"Hai."

I laughed. "You're on!"

* * *

**DDR! DDR! DDR! I _love_ DDR!  
...  
Review, please! (holds out a plate with more cookies on it)**


	7. The DanceOff

**(posts and dies) My E-mail stopped working...I probably have like fifty bazillion story updates I need to read...  
Okay, enough with my sob story. DDR! DDR! WH00T!  
...The line thingy isn't working. Is that supposed to happen...?**

**The Dance-Off**

I grinned at Anzu. "You ready for this?"

Anzu smirked. "Bring it!"

The two of us stood side-by-side on the Dance Dance Revolution game. Everyone in the entire arcade was watching—I mean, Anzu was the queen of DDR, and I had only been on this particular game once. I had gotten pretty good scores, and I'd beaten two or three of hers—but this was the first time we'd actually faced off.

"So how many games do you get to play on this?" I asked curiously. Usually, DDR was done in sets of three.

Anzu grinned. "We can do one set of three per token—so we have six dances. I'll choose the first three dances, and you choose the last three. Deal?"

I nodded. "Deal."

Anzu hit Select. "Oh, before we go on—you can change what difficulty you're on before you choose the song, so be careful where you step."

I nodded. "That's different—but cool. It reminds me of the X-box version of the game."

"Well, that was actually the point. This is the arcade version of DDR Ultramix 3."

"Oh. That's the exact one I have! …Uh, _had._"

I heard an impatient yell from the crowd. "Stop talking and dance!"

Anzu quickly chose her first song. It was called "Bye Bye Baby Balloon" by Joga. We both set our difficulty to Light.

"_(Baby balloon)_

_I can't seem to find my way of life  
__Since you've been gone, I feel lonely at night  
__I close my eyes and it's all right  
__It takes a second to remember them_

'_Boom, boom, boom,' said my heart  
__When I first saw you  
__When we were just getting closer_

'_Down, down, down,' says my mind  
__Now that love is gone  
__I feel that it's time for me to say_

_(Bye bye bye)_

_Bye bye baby balloon  
__My feelings are blue  
__One day you were mine  
__We're now just apart  
__Bye bye baby balloon  
__My feelings were true  
__We thought it just right  
__To pass it by_

_Bye bye baby balloon  
__My feelings are blue  
__One day you were mine  
__We're now just apart  
__Bye bye baby balloon  
__My feelings were true  
__We thought it just right  
__To pass it by_

_To pass it by_

_To pass it by_

_(Bye bye bye)"_

We both got AAs—with Anzu's score slightly higher than mine. I just happened to have gotten two or three more Goods than her…

Her second dance was "Destiny Lovers" by Kunitake Miyuki. Anzu kept it on Light—but I upped the level to Standard.

"_Mayowanai mou  
__Meguriaeta kala  
__Hanasanai kono  
__Te wo  
__Nido to..._

_Deatta shunkan  
__Hoshi ga nagaleta  
__Mabataki no hiyasade  
__Koi ni ochiteita_

_Anata no manazashi  
__Sono te no nukumoli  
__Naze ka wakaranai  
__Natsukashii kimochi ga_

_Mune no oku de  
__Yobimezamasu yo  
__Hoshi ni  
__Izanawareta kioku_

_Mayowanai mou  
__Meguriaeta kara  
__Hanasanai kono  
__Te wo  
__Nido to..._

_Michibiite hoshii yo  
__Sora no kanata kala  
__Harakatooi kioku  
__Koko ni  
__Ima…"_

I grinned. AAs again—and if looks could kill, I would be a fine red mist, for my score was higher than Anzu's. And I'd been a level higher than her.

Her third and final song was by a group called Smile.dk, called "Butterfly".

"_Aiyaiyai,  
__Aiyaiyai  
__A-a-aiyaiyai,  
__Where's my samurai?_

_I've been searching for a man  
__All across Japan  
__Just to find, to find my samurai  
__Someone who is strong  
__But still a little shy  
__Yes I need, I need my samurai_

_Aiyaiyai,  
__I'm your little butterfly  
__Green, black, and blue,  
__Make the colors in the sky  
__Ayiyaiyai,  
__I'm your little butterfly  
__Green, black, and blue,  
__Make the colors in the sky_

_I've been searching in the woods  
__And high upon the hills  
__Just to find, to find my samurai  
__Someone who won't regret  
__To keep me in his net  
__Yes I need, I need my samurai_

_Aiyaiyai,  
__I'm your little butterfly  
__Green, black, and blue,  
__Make the colors in the sky  
__Ay, ay, ay, I'm your little butterfly  
__Green, black, and blue,  
__Make the colors in the sky_

_Aiyaiyai  
__Aiyaiyai  
__A-a-aiyaiyai,  
__Where's my samurai?_

_Aiyaiyai,  
__Aiyaiyai  
__A-a-aiyaiyai,  
__Where's my samurai?"_

I grinned. I'd hit every arrow—and I'd only gotten three Great scores! Once again, my final number was higher than Anzu's, but only by about a hundred.

I waved my hand. "Could we get some water up here? Please?"

After downing two bottles of ice-cold water, I was ready to choose my songs. First up was Miracle Moon by Togo Project. I stayed on Standard—and Anzu upped her level, as well.

"_(Ai, ai, ai)_

_Denwa dake  
__Ja todokanai  
__Kimochi…_

_E-mail datte, setsunaku naru dake  
_'_Ima sugu ni ai ni kite' nante  
__Tadakko mitaku,  
__Kuchi ni shichai sou..._

_Demo,  
__Itsumo aeteta  
__Toki yori zutto  
__Chikaku kanjiru kigashiteru_

_Ai no kiseki o  
__Misete ageru  
__Do you believe in LOVE?  
__Yes, I'm just feeling now!_

_Ai no channel o  
__Awase tanara  
__Otsukisama ga  
__Chuukeikyoku_

_Do you believe in LOVE?  
__Yes, I'm just feeling now!"_

I got an A—and would have gotten an AA if it weren't for the fact that I messed up on the last few jumps. Anzu barely got her AA grade.

My second song was a little number called "Bath of Least Resistance" by NOFX. I absolutely loved it—the words fit me almost perfectly. Both of us remained on Standard.

"_Too many words on the tip of my tongue and  
__I can never figure out  
__When to speak, when to shout, when to shut up  
__When to knock myself out_

_I need a brainwash  
__Gray-matter bath  
__I need the clutter all  
__Thrown in the trash  
__I need a brain wash,  
_'_Cause I'm a loon  
__So could ya please throw my head in a tub?  
__I could really use a cerebral scrub  
__Wash away what I know  
__It's an overrated frontal lobe_

_I need a brainwash  
__Gray-matter bath  
__I need the clutter all  
__Thrown in the trash  
__I need a brain wash,  
_'_Cause I'm a loon—_

_Cause I'm a psycho-babble brain  
__A real life Looney Toon  
__A mixed up maniac,  
__I'm certifiable so put me in a room  
__Right next to Nicholson and give me Thorazine  
__Cause all I wanna do is sing traditional  
__Songs but I like to sing in minor technologies  
__Not making sense_

_So could you please throw my head in a tub?  
__I could really use a cerebral scrub  
__Wash away what I know  
__It's an overrated frontal lobe!"_

I got an A. So did Anzu. And my score was higher than hers. _Thank you, endless hours on the DDR game!_

Anzu scowled at me. "One song to go. Just pick."

So I did—"Firefly" by Be 4 U. I stayed on Standard. But Anzu upped her level to Heavy.

I glanced at her. "Are you sure you want to do that?"

Anzu glared at me. "Very sure."

I shrugged, hitting the start button. "Your funeral."

"_Ima kono ryuute  
__Hilogete solani  
__Mukaitte hashirisou, saa  
__Ryuukou hikari no youni_

_Hitogomini,  
__Nagasare asu ni nani wo moto meruno  
__Tsukuraleta reelu ayun  
__Deikudake_

_Genshitsuni  
__Batsukaru koto ni kizutsuku no osore naide  
__Nigedashi tai  
__Tokidemo  
__Akiramenaide_

_Mada kainu asuni  
__Kitaishi—"_

On screen, Anzu had started missing beats. And suddenly, she slipped. She'd been focusing so much on hitting every beat that she accidentally overstepped the down button and fell off the 'stage'. The crowd fell absolutely silent, just staring at her.

I rolled my eyes. "And no one helps her up? All of you are such idiots!" I abandoned the game to keep playing itself, holding out my hand. "Are you all right? You didn't hurt yourself, did you?"

Anzu stared at me for a moment—and then, reluctantly, accepted the hand up. "I'm all right, I guess. I just overdid it…"

Our friends were elbowing their way through the crowd. They all began babbling at us, and they all tried to make sure Anzu was okay. Damien was, of course, obsessing the most.

I heard a voice from the still-assembled crowd. "So…who won?"

I felt my hands clench into fists. "Who _cares?_" I yelled. "It was just a stupid game! Anzu might have gotten seriously hurt, and all you care about is finding out who won! Jeez, dude, get your priorities in line!"

As the crowd began to break up, I noticed Anzu giving me a suspicious look. I raised an eyebrow. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Why are you sticking up for me?" she countered.

I rolled my eyes. "Oh, come on. Just because _you_ hate _my_ guts doesn't mean _I_ hate _yours._"

Anzu stared at me. "I don't hate you!" she said hotly.

"Then why are you always glaring at me when you think I'm not looking?"

"…"

"Thank you. Look, could you please just tell me what it is I've done wrong so I can _attempt_ to fix it?"

Any response of hers was cut off by Yami's approach. He was smiling. "Both of you did very well. I'm sure it would have been a very close score, had you finished the dance." Anzu nodded a little, and walked away. We lost sight of her in the just-moving crowd.

Yami looked at me. "And I'm proud of you. You didn't try to rub it in that she fell. You actually stood up for her." His smile turned wry. "Not that you would have done anything different."

I grinned. "Yeah, I know. I'm just awesome like that." I stared off after Anzu. "But I don't think Anzu cares…I think she's just mad at me…"

"Why would she be mad at you?" Yami asked, confused.

I sighed. "I think I've got a pretty good idea…"

**(glares) Stupid line thingy. Okay...review, please!**


	8. Revelations on the Ranch

**HAH! The line thingy works again! YESS!  
...My E-mail is still malfunctioning, so I'm going to attempt manually checking my stories for updates. Which may take a while...(dies)  
Anyway, enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

**Revelation on the Ranch**

"Ryou, where the heck are we going?"

Ryou just smiled, turning down yet another dirt road. "You'll see when we get there."

I sighed, and looked behind us. Kaiba's van was close behind Ryou's, just like it had been since we started out. Terra, Mokuba, Malik, Marik, Jonouchi, Erica, and Duke were with him; Mikey, Sam, Bakura, Anzu, Yuugi, Sonja, Damien, Yami, and I were with Ryou in _his_ van.

It had been a few days since the DDR incident, and I was still stuck on how to convince Anzu that I wasn't here solely to ruin her life. I mean, I still had no idea why I was here at all…

Mikey, who was riding shotgun, touched Ryou's wrist. "Seriously, Ryou, where are you taking us?"

Ryou just grinned at her. "You'll see in a few—oh! Here we are!"

He turned right, and drove under a wrought-iron arch. The road wound up and around a small hill, on which a small grove of trees grew. Passing through the trees, Ryou pulled up beside a long, low house and stopped. "All right, then! Everybody out!"

All ten of us tumbled out of Ryou's van. The remaining eight joined us from Kaiba's. Ryou led us around the house to a wide, open field. There was a fenced-in enclosure with obstacles, and a huge stable near it—but the rest of the field was pretty much open to the wild.

As we watched, a brown horse came streaking across the field. Standing on its back was a girl of about my age. Her dark blond hair streamed out behind her like a banner. Her feet were bare; she balanced perfectly on the back of her horse.

"_Becca!_"

We turned. A girl who looked more Sonja's age was waving frantically from the door of the stable. She looked almost exactly like the girl on the horse, but for the fact that her hair and eyes were lighter. They must've been related.

She cupped her hands around her mouth. "_Stop messing around and get your butt over here!_"

The horse slowed from a gallop to a canter as it approached the stable, and then from a canter to a walk. Becca jumped down, and stuck her tongue out at the older girl, blue eyes glinting. "C'mon, Keely, you're just jealous because _you're_ too much of a klutz to pull that off!"

"Am not!" Keely retorted.

"Are too," Becca muttered.

Ryou coughed politely. Keely looked up—and grinned sheepishly. "Ack! Ryou! Hi! Sorry to make you wait. We were kinda busy…"

"Yeah, busy yelling at me," Becca muttered. Keely elbowed her.

Ryou smiled. "That's all right." He looked over his shoulder. "Guys, meet Keely and Becca Hyer. They've been here for about six years. I found them setting this ranch up one day while I was taking a hike."

"We love horses," Becca said with a grin. "Cousin Keely here is obsessed with them."

"You're not much better!"

"Are too!"

"Are not!"

Bakura rolled his eyes. "Can we please get _on_ with this discussion?" Everyone deathglared him.

As Ryou introduced us all, I noticed Keely giving me an odd look. She was looking at the others of us from the real world, too. It made me kind of uncomfortable…and the thing was, I could've sworn I'd heard those names before…

Becca grinned, and poked Keely's shoulder. "Ryou hasn't met our newest helpers yet!"

Keely snapped her fingers. "True!" She looked at Ryou. "You haven't come to visit for, like, four years—you missed the arrival of our newest helpers." She beckoned them to the stables. "Come on!"

We followed the two girls into the stable. The sweet smell of straw filled the entire place. Every stall had a different horse. Up in the hay loft, we could see movement.

Becca cupped her hands around her mouth. "_Kaetlyn! Alli!_"

I started a little. To my surprise, so did Erica.

There was a flurry of movement, and two more girls scrambled down the ladder. One was about Sam's age and height, with dark red-brown hair and deep brown eyes. The other had much lighter brown hair and eyes, and was about Keely's age. Images jumped into my mind. _No way…but they're…!_

Meanwhile, Becca was introducing them. "This is Kaetlyn Schlussler and Allie Ross. They sort of…appeared out of nowhere." All four girls sniggered, as if this was some private joke. Ryou raised an eyebrow, but said nothing.

Keely clapped her hands together. "So, since you're all here—who wants to ride some horses?"

Marik jumped up and down. "Ooh! Ooh! I love horses!"

Keely grinned. "Good! Pick one, and we'll help you out!"

Very few of us needed help. Unfortunately, I was one of those few. I'd chosen a silvery mare named, oddly enough, Kuroi, which is Japanese for black. She was a very patient horse, which was a good thing, seeing as how I couldn't even mount properly.

"Need some help, Miriku?"

I grinned sheepishly at Becca. "Yes, thanks."

She helped me up onto Kuroi's back—and then gave me an odd look. "We need to talk to you and your friends. Go to the far corner of the field, once you're done having fun." With that, she turned and left.

I raised an eyebrow. Why would Keely need to talk to us so badly?

Following Becca's earlier instructions, I urged Kuroi into a trot. From behind me, I could hear Kaetlyn and Allie chattering away. Once again, I wondered just who they were. And if they were who I _thought_ they were…then how did they get here…?

I banished the thought from my mind, and urged Kuroi a little faster. We just trotted around for about fifteen minutes, as I got used to being on horseback. And then, feeling a little braver, we sped up.

I looked around. Duke was off at one corner of the field, practicing some odd tricks on his horse. Erica was riding around in long circles—but I noticed she kept close to Duke's corner. Her horse was beginning to look slightly uncomfortable… Malik and Marik were at another corner, doing all sorts of choreography, speeding up and slowing down, racing in circles and odd twists. It made my eyes hurt to watch them. Almost everyone else had lined up at one end of the field, preparing for what looked like a race.

Yami drew up beside me on a white stallion. He flashed a grin at me, and his horse broke into a full-out gallop. I did the same, leaning forward so as to provide less resistance. We raced neck-and-neck around the edge of the field, laughing.

There was a sudden scream from across the field. Every head turned.

Erica's horse was acting up. It kept rearing and bucking, neighing wildly—she was holding on for dear life, screaming at the top of her lungs. Immediately, Becca and Keely sped towards her on their grey mares. But they were all the way on the other side of the field…

A black stallion also shot towards Erica and the rearing horse. The stallion was going almost twice as fast; it quickly overtook the girls. Duke lay practically flat astride its back, focused intently on Erica.

Erica's horse reared insanely high. Erica grappled at the saddle—slid off backwards—

—and was snatched out of the air by Duke as he zipped past. He hauled her into the saddle, as his horse galloped away from her still-bucking mare. She gripped his waist tightly, still screaming, as if she hadn't yet realized she was out of harm's way.

It wasn't until Duke's stallion slowed to a halt that she dared to open her eyes. We all crowded around, and there was a huge clamor of voices as everyone asked if she was all right.

"I think so," was her shaky reply. "I just don't think I'll be riding a horse any time soon…"

Becca, Keely, Allie, and Kaetlyn led the now calm-ish mare towards them. Keely's expression was murderous, and Becca was holding something carefully in the palm of her hand.

"_Which one of you idiots put a burr under the saddle!_" Keely yelled. Her burning eyes moved over all of us, and finally settled on—Bakura.

Of course.

The tomb robber was edging away. "Uh—I—it wasn't supposed to be _hers!_" he finally burst out, flinging his hands up in the air. "That was supposed to be in the bloody _pharaoh's_ saddle!"

"What a comforting thought," Yami muttered. I elbowed him.

Keely grabbed his shirt collar. "Apparently, you don't realize how _dangerous_ that is! Erica could have been _killed!_"

Allie and Kaetlyn grabbed her arms. "Easy there, Keely!" Kaetlyn exclaimed. "You don't have to _kill_ the poor dude!"

"Although he deserves it," Duke muttered darkly. He put an arm around the still-trembling Erica's shoulders. "Are you sure you're going to be all right?" he asked softly.

Erica smiled a little. "I'm sure…"

Becca elbowed Keely, who nodded a little. "Sonja, Damien, Miriku, Mikey, Terra, Sam, Marik, Erica…come with us." She looked at the anime people. "You guys can go ahead and keep riding. We need to talk to them." She started off towards the barn; Becca, Kaetlyn, and Allie close behind.

I raised my eyebrows at Terra. We followed the four girls.

In a matter of moments, we were all gathered in a circle. "So, what did you want?" Terra asked curiously.

Becca's expression was serious. "None of you are from this dimension, are you?" It was more of a statement that a question.

Keely held up a hand. "Before anyone says anything. Becca and I—we're also from your dimension."

Damien stared at them. He slowly shook his head. "That makes absolutely no sense."

"Actually, it kinda does," Terra said quietly.

I glanced at her. "Well, could you explain, please?"

Terra turned to face me. "I remember my parents talking about it. It happened six or seven years ago. A pair of cousins disappeared from a horse ranch, completely without a trace. Their windows were wide open, and there was a sword embedded in each bed. But there was no blood, or anything. They caught the man—he swore up and down that he'd killed them. But they were _gone._ Their names…were Becca and Keely Hyer."

Keely nodded. "Looks like your friend figured it out."

I blinked. "Then, what about—"

"My cousin and I got hit by a truck," Allie said quietly. "We woke up in the middle of the field with Keely and Becca standing over us."

Erica grinned a little. She looked like she was about to cry. "It's been so long…you probably don't even recognize me…"

Kaetlyn laughed. "How could we not recognize our own cousin?"

I stared between all three of them. "You've got to be kidding me. Erica's you're _cousin?_ I didn't even know you two _had_ cousins other than each other!"

Allie and Kaetlyn blinked. So did everyone else.

Marik poked my arm. "Your turn to explain, missy."

I grinned, and threw my arms up in the air, speaking in an annoying little-kid voice. "I can touch the ceiling and you ca-an't! I can touch the lights and—_whoa!_ They _move!_"

Everyone nearly fell over laughing. Except Kaetlyn and Allie. They just stared at me.

I grinned. "_Now_ do you remember me?"

The two girls glanced at each other. "Say something that only Gwen would say," Allie said, suspicion in her voice.

Ignoring the weird looks I got from my friends at the use of another name, I pulled my inhaler out of my pocket and waved it around through the air, laughing maniacally. "_IT'S CAFFINE-HIGH YAMI'S INHALER OF ASTHMATIC DOOM!_"

Kaetlyn and Allie both collapsed into fits of laughter. Everyone else stared at me.

"_Caffeine-high Yami's Inhaler of Asthmatic Doom?_" Mikey asked skeptically.

I grinned. "It was some random fic I wrote when I was, like, four. Anzu gives Yami a cup of super-dark coffee, and since he doesn't have the resistance to the caffeine that we Americans, or even the modern-day Japanese, do, he got insanely hyper. And utter chaos ensued."

Bakura grinned evilly. "Heh. I wonder…"

"Don't even think about it," Yami growled.

Kaetlyn jumped around. "It's really you! Jen is back!"

I groaned. "Gwen, not Jen. And actually, it's Miriku now."

Allie blinked. "Your mom actually let you change your name to Miriku?"

"Yeah! It was so friggin' weird…"

Terra groaned. "Okay, _now_ I'm confused…"

I grinned. "All right, let me explain. My original name was Gwen. When I was five, I decided I wanted it changed to Miriku. The only people I told were my two best friends at the time." I gestured at Kaetlyn and Allie. "So, then my family moved to Florida, and I lost their phone numbers and addresses, so we fell out of contact. When I was ten, I decided to tell my parents about the whole name-change thing, and they went through with it. I didn't meet Terra, John, and all of them 'til the next year—sixth grade."

Erica grinned. "So we do have a connection!"

Becca's expression became serious. "Listen—we called you over here for a reason. Think about how the four of us got here."

"You got here 'cause you all died." Sam shrugged. "Why?"

Keely rolled her eyes. "_Think._ We're dead. They never found out bodies, because we were _here._"

Damien's eyes widened suddenly. "Are you telling us that we're all dead!" he exclaimed.

Becca nodded grimly. "That's the most likely explanation."

"That would make sense," Mikey whispered. "I was at the Metro Zoo with my parents, and we were right beneath the Monorail…there was this horrible grinding noise, and then I was here…it could have crashed…"

"I was on the Metra line," Erica added, staring off into space. "I _thought_ it was going around that bend a little too fast…"

"We were on a plane going back to the Sunshine State from California," Sonja murmured, looking at Damien.

As the others recounted their horrific tales of death and destruction, my mind drifted backwards. I didn't have any accident that could've happened…

Marik poked my arm. "Well, Miri? What about you?"

I sighed. "I was sitting in the park, staring off into space."

Everyone blinked. "That's…not even close to what I expected to hear," Damien muttered.

I shrugged. "Well, it's what happened. I was out in the park on an insanely hot day. There was this static-ish crackle in my ears, and I heard a weird rushing sound, and then I was here."

"Heat lightning?" Becca and Keely suggested simultaneously.

"Maybe…"

"Sorry to interrupt you, girls, but we need to get going." Ryou smiled sheepishly at Keely and Becca, tapping his watch.

Keely sighed. "Oh, all right. But you'd _better_ come visit us soon."

Ryou grinned. "Promise." He looked at us. "Come on, we really should be going."

Mikey sighed wistfully. "All right…"

We all headed back towards the vans, and piled in. As Ryou and Kaiba pulled away, we waved out the rear windshield at Keely, Becca, Allie, and Kaetlyn.

My mind was still trying to process this new information. _So if we're all dead in our own dimensions…then how are we supposed to get back?

* * *

_

**  
HAPPY LATE/EARLY BIRTHDAYS TO:**

**krazy-wit-a-k  
sora-is-a-hottie  
The Magical Whatever  
MyAgent'llSendYouAGiftbasket (Although I have no idea what her new name is going to be...TELL ME, KEELY-SAN! T.T)**


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